Temperatures and Taranovs

Like many beekeepers, I'm often thinking about my bees at any time of the day or night. But like most beekeepers, I do my beekeeping during the day.But not just any time during the day.Most of my beekeeping is done between late morning and mid/late afternoon.That's a 6-hour window, or just 25% of the day. During the rest of the time, the bees look after themselves — I don't bother them, at least, not usually.In temperate regions, other than during a heat wave, that 6-hour period straddles the time when it's a good temperature to open the hives. And, of equal importance, it includes the temperature at which the bees are much more tolerant of my meddling.The lows and highs over the last fortnightMy bees are reasonably well-tempered at the best worst of times, but they're a lot better at 15 °C than they are at 5 °C. Sponsors get more … posts, news, and information on the science, art, and practice of sustainable beekeeping. They also have access to over a decade of legacy posts, and…